


the road leads back to you

by Issay



Series: One-shot collection [15]
Category: The Resident (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Austin has cats and it's canon, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Character-centric, Eventual Romance, F/M, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, perhaps to be continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 07:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17803877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Issay/pseuds/Issay
Summary: "It's so unfair," Nic complains drunkenly one night when she, Irving and Pravesh are drowning their respective heartbreaks in cheap beer. "He looks at her like she put the freaking sun in the sky but won't do anything about it! Because it would be unprofessional! Bullshit!"Devon pats her arm comfortingly, not really knowing what she's talking about but deciding to be supportive anyway.





	the road leads back to you

Their love story is not epic. It's not riddled by obstacles and dramatic reveals, there's no grief or jealousy or their own ambitions they'd have to battle. It doesn't have the intensity of the fire burning between Nic and Conrad, or the confused head-over-heels situation Devon regularly goes through with whatever girl or guy he claims is the love of his life this month.

No, their love story is more of a natural progression of things that started with Mina's acid commentary and AJ's bizarre sense of humor.

  
  


"It's so unfair," Nic complains drunkenly one night when she, Irving and Pravesh are drowning their respective heartbreaks in cheap beer. "He looks at her like she put the freaking sun in the sky but won't do anything about it! Because it would be unprofessional! Bullshit!"

Devon pats her arm comfortingly, not really knowing what she's talking about but deciding to be supportive anyway.

But it's not like Mina isn't aware. She noticed the attention Austin has been paying her, the sentiment she could sometimes catch in his smile. It didn't escape Mina's attention that he made sure not to allow any touches linger, or banter get anywhere near to inappropriate. She appreciates it. Once Micah's face stops haunting her dreams (it was so tempting to say 'yes', truly, but she knows better and she's not one to shy away from a difficult situation), Mina accepts it and moves on.

When her mother breezes through Chastain, Mina makes a brave face and suffers through an awkward greeting while Bell looks on, self-satisfied smile on his lips. Austin and Voss hover, unsettled, aware of their shared resident's rigid spine and fingers curled into protective fists. Kitt has her replacing joints and amputating limbs for the rest of the day – nothing complicated, just an exhausting, menial work.

“You look like you need a good reason to hammer some things together,” Voss explains cheerfully without actually being asked and pushes Okafor into yet another procedure.

(Mina doesn't know it but AJ spends that time with her mother, refusing to answer any non-medical questions and silently judging the woman the entire time.)

At the end of her shift Mina's so tired she doesn't oppose when Nic gently steers her towards Austin waiting by his car. The nurse sends her a small smile – the 'don't argue with me, I know better than you so shut up and take your medicine' smile – and walks away to where Conrad is waiting to take her home. Without a word, she gets in when AJ opens the door for her in a pointless yet chivalrous gesture, and allows the scent of his cologne (and leather seats, and a hint of coffee) surround her. They don't talk when he drives, focused on the late evening traffic.

“They shed,” Austin warns as he opens the door to his apartment and lets her in, eyeing her moss-green wool cardigan but Mina shrugs and looks around his living room. It's a cozy space in deep burgundy and natural wood, with accents of dark blue throw pillows and matching blankets. Overfilled book cases lining the wall, a record player standing on a cabinet with stacked vinyls, potted plant, cat toys here and there on the floor. Of course he reads paperbacks, she thinks while he's in the kitchen – separated from the living space with a solid wood breakfast bar with comfortable stools.

When Austin returns to her with two mugs of steaming coffee, one of the cats is in Mina's lap while the other, a giant brown Maine Coon, sits on her feet and purrs like a small engine.

“They don't usually like new people,” he says, settling one mug on the coffee table, close enough that she can reach for it without bothering any of the cats. “You must be...”

“Oh God, don't even say it.”

“...a real Disney princess.”

Mina glares at him, and he teases her, and Etta James coos in the background, and at some point she forgets about the heart ache caused by her mother's visit, and about grief that threatened to choke her during the day.

  
  


(She wakes up in the morning on the couch, swaddled in blankets and two purring cats, with a foggy memory of someone's gentle hands guiding her tired head to the pillow, and a soft-scratchy feeling of a kiss goodnight on her forehead.)

  
  


Things don't change between them, not really. It doesn't matter that Mina knows which book is his favorite (“Beloved” by Toni Morrison, though she also saw him re-read Hurston's “Their Eyes Were Watching God” a few times) or that he won't drink tea unless it was steeped for at least five minutes. She cat-sits for him whenever AJ goes for some conference alone, and even when he's in town she still drops by every now and then to just cuddle with Ella and Louis (Mina finds the cats' names adorably cliché but still makes fun of AJ mercilessly).

They go together to Kitt's wedding.

“Why on Earth she would fall for Bell, I have no idea,” Conrad says quietly during the reception, watching the newlyweds dance. Nic kicks him under the table, and Devon snorts into his wine, and Mina rolls her eyes.

“It's one of those mysteries I don't think we ever want answered, my friend,” Austin says in a serious tone but his beard hides a smile. Mina knows that Hawkins is never sure if AJ mocks him or not. She finds it hilarious.

“Agreed,” Okafor murmurs before it can develop into a thing, and the discussion fluidly moves on to whether “At Last” is the most cliché wedding song of all time or if there's something more popular. Mina herself doesn't have an opinion but it's fun to watch Nic bait Devon into an argument about Bollywood.

Later, when the party's winding down she's barefoot and dancing with Austin to jazzy rendition of “Summertime”, (fabric of his suit is luxurious beneath her fingers, and the smell of sandalwood is pleasantly dizzying) Mina has to admit to herself that maybe she doesn't hate weddings as much as she used to.

  
  


Their love story isn't grand or tragic. They are spared the tumultuous events like Devon getting shot and almost dying in Conrad's arm; like Nic finding a baby in a cardboard box on the steps of the clinic one December night and wanting to adopt it; like Irving proposing to Jessica in the middle of a major storm when a tornado warning is issued.

  
  


„There's nothing else I can teach you,” he tells her a few days before her certification. Mina looks up from her procedure notes strewn across the dinner table - Ella sits her furry ass on the well-worn copy of „Gray's Anatomy” while Louis purrs in Mina's lap, and AJ's head almost spins from the domesticity of it – and she nods, understanding both what he said and what he didn't.

„I know. We'll talk about it later.”

They do. Mina finishes her residency and gets board certified in both cardiothoracic surgery and orthopaedics, and Voss-Bell duo gloats just a little. But later – after the champagne and congratulations, and a small party in one of the pubs near the hospital – later, AJ takes her home and they talk in the language of sure fingers and soft touches. They dialogue in lack of hesitation and in reverent kisses, in smooth slide of skin on skin. If cats protest against bedroom door being closed (Louis takes revenge on Mina's dress left haphazardly in the hallway, and covers it in fur thoroughly), neither human notices, too focused on the drumming of their hearts.

„I want to go into paediatric surgery,” Mina says in the morning when they're sharing the morning paper and coffee. „It's a challenge.”

He nods and presses a kiss to the fingers of her right hand, and Mina's fingers tighten on his.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So this story - or rather an idea for this story - got stuck in my head a few days ago and refused to come out. I'm not fully happy with it and I may continue it but I'm just so glad it finally allowed itself to be written, I just had to publish.  
> No, seriously, I have like seven drafts of the first paragraph, it was a nightmare.
> 
> Also, I saw that no one posted AJ/Mina fics and that's a shame because they're so perfect together. (And now I ramble, that's my lack of sleep talking, sorry about that!) If you'd like to see a bit more, let me know - I live for the comments.
> 
> Title from classic song "Georgia on My Mind"


End file.
